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Stars up for GIBBY top Hitting Performance

Stars up for GIBBY top Hitting Performance

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By Adam Berry
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MLB.com |

There are plenty of awards in place to honor baseball's best hitters for their memorable work throughout the course of a 162-game season. But how about one for those who come to the park and put together one single, unforgettable performance?

Look no further than the GIBBY Award for "Must C" Hitting Performance of the Year, which features the 2013 season's best single-day displays of offensive prowess. Among the 14 nominees are some of the game's brightest stars, unsurprisingly including names like Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout, and players from the Majors' top teams, including three Red Sox finalists.

The star-studded list includes cycles, six-hit games, multihomer outings, one incredible inning and a veritable basestealing clinic -- no clear winner, and plenty of excellent choices.

Fans can vote through Monday for the Hitting Performance of the Year. In the past five years, fans have cast more than 50 million votes across the various GIBBY categories, none of which was restricted to individual league affiliation.

There's only a short time left to vote, so be sure to do so.

Winners will be presented with their GIBBY trophies at the MLB.com Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards extravaganza during the Winter Meetings next month in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Two Angels sluggers lead off the list. Trout hit for the cycle and drove in five runs on May 21 against the Mariners, becoming the youngest American Leaguer to hit for the cycle. Mark Trumbo, meanwhile, became the first Angel to record five hits and score five runs in one game on Sept. 10 in Toronto, going 5-for-5 with a homer and three doubles.

Trout's cycle was not the only one of note this year, as Houston's Brandon Barnes accomplished the feat on July 19, also against Seattle. The outfielder was the first player to hit for the cycle with at least five hits since 2009.

Edwin Encarnacion did his damage in a single inning on July 26 against the Astros, crushing two homers and driving in five runs in the seventh. He became the first player in Blue Jays history to tally five RBIs in one frame and put together Toronto's first two-homer inning since 1993.

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura is one of two finalists with a six-hit performance to his name, as he went 6-for-7 and tied a franchise record on May 28 against the Twins. Not to be outdone, Rangers outfielder Alex Rios went 6-for-6 with a triple and two stolen bases against the Tigers on July 9, with four of those hits coming off Justin Verlander.

If you prefer power, there are three strong nominees in Washington's Ryan Zimmerman, Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez and New York's Alfonso Soriano. Zimmerman went deep in each of his first three at-bats on May 29 at Camden Yards, finishing 3-for-4 with three homers and four RBIs. Gonzalez went deep three times and drove in six runs against Cincinnati on June 5, when teammate Troy Tulowitzki chipped in five hits and two homers of his own. And Soriano crushed two homers and drove in a career-high seven runs on Aug. 14 against the Angels, rounding out a two-day total of 13 RBIs.

Omar Infante is one of two finalists from Detroit, as the second baseman's 5-for-5, six-RBI performance on Sept. 6 deserves consideration. And Cabrera, of course, is a serious contender for any offensive award. In a May 19 loss to the Rangers, the AL MVP became the first Major Leaguer in history to go 4-for-4 with three homers, five RBIs and four runs in defeat.

And what would this list be without the World Series champion Red Sox? It'd be much shorter, if nothing else, as Boston has three nominees. Will Middlebrooks is nominated for his three-homer, four-run, four-RBI outing on April 7 in Toronto. On May 30, Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-for-4 with five steals, breaking the Red Sox record and becoming the first player to swipe five bags in one game since 2009. Shane Victorino did a little bit of everything on Aug. 27, going 3-for-3 with two homers, a double, four runs, seven RBIs, a walk and a hit by pitch.

A number of Major League Baseball's A-listers will take home 2013 GIBBY trophies -- the ultimate honors of the industry's awards season -- based on votes by media, front-office personnel, MLB alumni, fans at MLB.com and the Society for American Baseball Research.